Seoul offers 'goodwill gesture' to Tokyo

President Moon Jae-in delivers a congratulatory speech at the National Museum of Korea in Yongsan, central Seoul, Wednesday, on the 73rd anniversary of the nation's liberation from Japanese colonial rule. Yonhap

By Kim Yoo-chul, Lee Min-hyung

President Moon Jae-in said Wednesday that achieving peace, one economic community and free exchanges on the Korean Peninsula is true liberation as the nation marked the 73rd anniversary of Korea's liberation from Japanese rule between 1910 and 1945.

Speaking at an event held in central Seoul, he said the upcoming Pyongyang summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will be a step towards denuclearization the signing of a peace treaty to end the 1950-1953 Korean War.

Casting true liberation as peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula, President Moon said he will be the “driving force” behind a possible summit between Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Kim as Seoul hopes for a permanent peace in East Asia with Japanese support.

“Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and I reached an agreement to closely cooperate to develop Korea-Japan relations in a forward-looking manner and to promote peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia. This cooperation will eventually lead to the normalization of North Korea-Japan relations,” the President said.

The remarks are reversal from those expressed in last year's Liberation Day speech when Moon said relations between Seoul and Tokyo were “at risk” given the latter's failure to reconcile with its past.

Prime Minister Abe sent a ritual offering to Tokyo's “highly-controversial” Yasukuni Shrine, Tuesday, however, he didn't visit in person. Past visits by Japanese leaders to the shrine have outraged the two Koreas as it houses the remains of Japanese wartime figures convicted of war crimes by an Allied tribunal, along with those of the war dead.

Moon spoke extensively on the issue of his upcoming summit with Kim.

“I will be visiting Pyongyang next month carrying the wishes of the people. I will help build a relationship based on deeper trust between the two Koreas and simultaneously lead efforts to promote dialogue on denuclearization between North Korea and the United States,” he said.

While talks for nuclear disarmament talks have been stalled since Pyongyang refused to accept a demand from Washington to hand over a list of its nuclear weapons, Moon said he expects corresponding measures by the United States and North Korea will come “soon.”

“I hope that the implementation of the complete denuclearization of North Korea and corresponding comprehensive measures by the United States will be pursued quickly.”

Railroad community

In the speech, President Moon offered to set up the East Asian Railroad Community with North Korea, China, Japan, Russia, the United States and Mongolia. The community, according to Moon, will be a body that will eventually launch a “multilateral security system” in the region.

“The community will expand the horizon of the Korean economy to the northern part of the continent and become the main artery of mutual prosperity in Northeast Asia. It will then lead to the creation of energy and economic communities in the region. Moreover, it will initiate a Northeast Asian multilateral peace and security system,” President Moon said.

The government is seeking to link railways and roads with the North before end of the year. The President said the “railroad initiative” is one of many efforts that South Korea is pushing to guarantee permanent peace in Northeast Asia following the June 12 summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Kim in Singapore.

The vision is part of an agreement during the April 27 inter-Korean summit between Moon and Kim to connect railways and roads on the east coast of the peninsula for balanced growth and prosperity between the countries.

“It may take a long time for us to achieve political unification, but we need to overcome inter-Korean division for our survival and prosperity. True liberation is to build a united economic community by establishing inter-Korean peace and allowing people from both sides to freely cross the border,” said the President.

Toward the goal of building an Inter-Korean Economic Community, Moon said he would establish “Unification Economic Zones” near the southern border areas of Gyeonggi and Gangwon provinces Province, though didn't mention specifics such as on how they will be formed and whether foreign capital will be invited to keep the projects afloat.

“This will create jobs and opportunities for the local community and small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to make a breakthrough. When the two Koreas join hands for economic cooperation, its effect will be huge,” the President said.

In an earlier ministerial-level meeting between the two Koreas, North Korea's Committee for Peaceful Reunification Chairman Ri Son-gwon said the two Koreas cleared major obstacles, which raised hopes that the third Moon-Kim summit will deal with key issues such as providing a denuclearization timeline and the possible lifting of economic sanctions imposed on the North.